NEWYORK — Stocks ended flat Monday after expectations that a tax-cut package will pass the Senate kept them higher for much of the day. If enacted, the package will extend tax cuts passed during the Bush administration for all income levels for another two years. It will also extend unemployment benefits through next year and put in place a one-year reduction in Social Security taxes. Economists expect the nearly $900 billion tax package to boost economic growth and increase the size of the budget deficit.
Traders were also encouraged by a handful of deals announced Monday. General Electric Co. is paying $1.3 billion to buy British oilfield company Wellstream Holdings PLC and Dell Inc. is spending $960 million for network storage company Compellent Technologies Inc.
The S&P 500 index eked out a new 2010 high for the fourth time in four days. The index rose 0.06 point to 1,240.46.
Other indexes took a late afternoon spill. The Dow Jones industrial average closed with a gain of 18.24 to 11,428.56, having been up as many as 70 points earlier. The Dow is now just 15.52 points from its 2010 closing high, reached Nov. 5.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 12.63 to close at 2,624.91. That snapped a six-day streak in which the index notched new 2010 highs.
“It looks like the big trade going on right now is that money is working its way out of bonds and into stocks,” said Ryan Detrick, a senior strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. “We think that is only going to continue as the economy starts looking better.”
